Because I Cannot Hurt You

The reporters looked at each other in confusion.

Yunru said, "Let me show you. That will prove everything."

He played a video on a tab. "This is the security footage from last night. Mrs. Zhu Caihong, CEO of S3 company, helped us secretly set up the cameras."

As the video played, they saw that around 1.20 AM, a man entered the construction site. The site was already banned with tapes around the area, so there wasn't any guard securing it.

To everyone's shock, the man started replacing the unopened cement bags and other materials with the stuff he brought inside. After he was done, he began to leave when the cops, who were secretly eyeing him, caught him.

He stopped the video.

"As you can see, this is the man from last night and…"

One of the officers wheeled in bags of cement and building materials.

"This is the stuff he was replacing it with. We tested the quality of these things, and the result is that they are all of poor quality."

Everybody gasped in shock.

The representative from the QA testing company came forward. "Chief Soo is right. We got two samples yesterday. The one brought by this strange man had all sorts of defects in them which would never pass any quality test."

Yunru smiled. "Which clearly proves that somebody is trying to frame Mr. Han Zhiyuan by jeopardizing his company."

Xinyi faced the reporters. "We have questioned this man, but he claims he doesn't know who gave him orders. I set this press conference so that you can understand that Zhiyuan and I and Mr. Mu Chuanli - we all are working towards our hotels with sincerity and honesty. We would never compromise on safety. That is the core principle of our business. Please retract all of your defamatory articles against Zhiyuan and publish what's the truth."

"Oh God, I never expected this turn of events!"

"Who could be behind all this?"

"Who else could it be!? There is only one enemy."

The reporters threw questioning gazes at Keung.

"Mr. Han Keung. Do you want to say anything?"

"Is it possible that you are behind all this?"

"You are the only one who can benefit from Mr. Zhiyuan's loss."

"Answer us."

Han Mingli glared at them. "All of you! How could you point fingers at my son!?"

Han Guang gritted her teeth. "He is right. Just because Zhiyuan is proved innocent doesn't mean my son has to take the blame."

"But Mrs. Han Guang, there is no fierce rival other than him at the moment."

"It's not impossible. Didn't you and Mr. Han Mingli was in jail until three months ago?"

They froze.

"It's plausible that Mr. Han Keung would also have done something unethical seeing how his parents are criminal…"

"There are also rumors that Mr. Keung took the shares with some suspicious methods."

"Y-You!" Han Guang was livid in anger.

Suddenly, it was too easy to blame Keung, all the more because they were in prison all this time and the way he suddenly became the CEO.

Keung wryly laughed.

I don't care. Say whatever you want to say about me.

"Enough," Zhiyuan intervened, carrying a cold authority in his words.

He stared at the reporters and harshly rebuked them. "You are the media. It's your job to bring the truth, not baselessly point fingers at someone. Unless there is evidence against Keung, I won't hear a word against him."

Keung froze.

"The only point of today's conference was to prove me innocent and to let you know that somebody is working from the shadows to ruin us. We don't know who that 'somebody' is. Until the cops get proper evidence, neither I nor anybody else should carelessly throw accusations at anybody. Also…"

He glanced at Keung, who seemed to be very silent and unresponsive.

"I know there are inhibitions against Keung. It's not surprising. But I believe that if there is one thing I can bet on would be that he wouldn't want to play this unfairly."

Keung slowly widened his eyes.

"There is something he wants to prove, and there would be no point to it if he wins the challenge using tricks."

He gritted his teeth. "G-Get lost! I don't need you to stand up for me! If they want to throw mud at my face, then let them do it. I don't care! Don't act like a good big brother!"

"These are my true feelings. I don't care if you believe me or not."

There was a silence for a beat.

Yunru took over. "The conference ends now. The police are working to catch the real culprit. Once we find him, we will release the news. Mr. Han Zhiyuan is proved innocent and is released here after. Also, the ban on the construction site is lifted, and it can continue as per the schedule."

Xinyi brightened and hugged Zhiyuan. "We did it, Zhiyuan!"

He grinned and kissed her lips. "It's my wifey who did it. I was stuck in the police station," he pouted.

Xinyi reddened. "Zhiyuan! There are people here!" She whispered.

"I am just kissing my wife. Nobody would have any opposition…" he shot a sharp stare at the reporters.

They quickly looked away, coughing and stopped the cameras.

"You can keep the cameras on. I am not ashamed."

!!!

"Ouch!" He yelped in pain, feeling Xinyi's foot on his. "You…you are so annoyingly shy!"

Yunru patted his shoulder. "You can be all lovey-dovey at home."

Han Guang stomped her foot in anger. "What are you still here for!?" She glared at Han Mingli and Keung. "Let's go! Is there still anything left to stay here for?"

Keung stared at Zhiyuan and silently left.

—

Liao Yuan threw the tab away.

Fuck! Fuck!

How!? How did this happen?

He banged his foot on the desk in frustration.

"Did Xinyi do this on purpose because she knew I would do something like this?"

He narrowed his eyes. 𝑓𝐫𝑒e𝒘𝚎𝘣𝚗𝘰𝘷𝐞𝑙.co𝑚

The conference was suddenly set up with very short notice.

Is it because she wanted to not give me any time to think?

The more time constraint, the easier it was to make him plan something in haste. That's why she was ready with the cops and waiting for it to happen.

He gritted his teeth.

Well played, Xinyi.